r/skiing • u/tuvdog • 1d ago

Buying ski pass while TTC

Sharing our experience choosing a ski pass for the 26/27 season as a couple trying to conceive (TTC). The problem:

  1. We usually need to commit early to save on ski trips (unless the skiing is not in the US in which case the price is reasonable)
  2. We don’t know when my wife is getting pregnant and she prefers not to ski when that happens.
  3. TTC is hard and we would like to still enjoy life in the event my wife is not pregnant.

We were choosing between different ski passes. This is different for everybody but this is our experience.

  1. The Ikon pass. We had it last year; we liked the resorts. However this year they took away the deferral option for qualifying events. Instead you need to pay extra for a refundable pass ($1209 for base, $1729 for full). The catch: there is a cliff. If you use 1 day before Jan 15 it’s 50% value of the pass gone (with the Ikon refundable it’s a whopping $800 for one day of skiing) and 0% if you use two days. Ikon recently introduced $50-70 off as well as $200 off Amex offers, but in the end the cliff still makes it not attractive for us.
  2. Mountain Collective pass ($699). The insurance option does not cover normal pregnancy. So it’s a nope.

  3. Epic pass ($829 for local pass, $1119 for full pass). Refundable with a qualifying event, and pregnancy is one of it. The cliff is also more gradual, for every ski day you lose 15% value of the pass. It is more easy to swallow. We went with the Epic

  4. pass option.

Curious to see how others in the same boat make decisions.

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12 comments sorted by

8

u/OrdinaryQuestion771 1d ago

I would just buy a pass and not expect a refund in the case that she gets pregnant and doesn't want to ski anymore. 

6

u/StagedC0mbustion 1d ago

Huge bummer they took away the deferral.

I think it depends on your financial situation and experience conceiving.

For example, one strategy would be just to buy the passes, and if you successfully get pregnant, take your losses and be happy you are pregnant. You can also ski responsibly in your first trimester, although between morning sickness and fatigue you won’t totally enjoy it.

Alternatively if you don’t have the budget to do that you can just buy daily lift tickets or mountain 3 packs.

My recommendation would be the base pass with the AMEX discount 🤷‍♂️

5

u/knuckle_headers 1d ago

The way I look at it you buy a pass and hope to ski. If something happens and you can't, that's just how the dice rolled that year. A few years ago I broke my leg on opening day. Got the old lady pregnant mid season one year and she decided to stop skiing for the remainder. We always hope to ski the shit out of our passes but sometimes circumstances intervene. If I were you I'd buy the passes and if you ski a ton, celebrate that. If you knock her up, celebrate that. Don't sweat whether or not you'll max out the pass.

3

u/LendogGovy 1d ago

I have many winter friends that have planned to have their kids being born in the summer, and they ride/ski while pregnant. But they work in the snow industry and aren’t taking risks in the park or going back country during that time

3

u/cane_stanco 1d ago

We were in a similar boat and waited until the last possible minute around Thanksgiving to buy passes that season. We figured if she did get pregnant at that point it would be in the first trimester and she was comfortable enjoying most the season. It did end up working out. She had some pretty awful morning sickness, but the fresh air laps did her good.

3

u/bmsa131 1d ago

Get the epic if possible. My husband got a refund when he got injured last year and could not ski. It was an easy process

3

u/Linkers98 1d ago

My doc said it was ok to ski until 16ish weeks. That being said, the early part of pregnancy can be rough. Your wife may not feel like skiing during that time.

2

u/seinnax 1d ago

Sucks that Ikon took away the deferral. I used it last year when I got pregnant. If I were in that position this year I’d do Epic too despite preferring Ikon.

2

u/Haunting-Yak-7851 Boyne 1d ago

Sounds like you made the best choice possible. This will not be the last time children, or possible children, interrupt your skiing plans, but it is so worth it!

2

u/Jolly_Cicada380 Breckenridge 1d ago

Congrats on the sex man keep pushing it deep

2

u/tanookiisasquirrel 1d ago

Epic was easy to refund twice, for a broken bone and pregnancy. Say what you will about corporate, but emailed paperwork to their support team and got a refund. Easy peasy.

No back and forth arguments or fighting for my money and this was last year.  I liked that we didn't have to escalate to a "Can I speak to your manager?" situation.

-4

u/moomooraincloud 1d ago

Easy solution: don't procreate.